Distressed Farmers puts Chilli Fields on Fire

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Distressed and annoyed chilli farmers stopped transporting their produce to market for selling and started burning them in the fields only. The cost they invested in cultivation is much higher than the price they are offered by the government. The hatred and annoyance of the farmers can be easily seen in the burning of the yield developed through hard work in field. Due to exploitation by agents and failure of the state government to offer remunerative prices. The amount farmers are earning by selling it is less than the amount farmers give in transportation.

In between the intermediaries are taking advantage of the situation and making the farmers to take the price they offer, farmers said. A distressed chilli farmer, Ramanna from Nadimigadda village in Vemanapali Mandal of Mancherial burnt 38 quintals of dry chilli on his field. He burnt it because he realized that he would not get a good price in the market, not even equivalent to the money he had invested in cultivation, he said. He also mentioned that middlemen were offering between Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,500 per quintal which was very low as compared to the cost of cultivation. Due to rise in labour wages and high prices of seed and fertilizers the investment costs have increased.Farmers are complaining of exploitation, there hasn’t been much of a change in the retail price of chilli as compared to last year. The retail price of chilli is currently Rs 90 per kg, whereas last year it was Rs 110. This is indicative of the massive exploitation of farmers by middlemen and agents. Mr Ramanna said "there were no chilli-purchasing centres nearby, and so farmers would have spend a large amount of money to transport their produce to Nagpur in Maharashtra to receive a moderate price of Rs 3,000 per quintal, which would not cover their investment and transportation costs."